"Not thanking his team at all, just Soler. That’s a bit strange.” Bruyneel and Martin discuss Ayuso's comments on X

Ayuso flipped Stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana on its head, ripping the race from a massive breakaway and handing UAE Team Emirates – XRG their fifth victory of the event. On The Move podcast, Johan Bruyneel and Spencer Martin unpacked how a 50-plus rider group was allowed to breathe while the general classification favourites tucked in for stage 13’s brutal climb. UAE used Mark Soler to launch Ayuso on the day’s final climb, with Javier Romo (Movistar) the lone rider able to claw back to his wheel before losing the sprint. As the GC group rode conservatively behind, the win tally kept ticking for UAE, and the debate about whether that sprint-for-everything approach can coexist with a serious GC campaign flared again.

The stage was shaped early. “A huge group went away, more than 50 riders. At first it was 38, and then within ten minutes it had grown to over 50, basically almost half the peloton,” Bruyneel explained. With such firepower up the road, Team Visma | Lease a Bike quickly established order. “Movistar had five riders in that front group, which showed they were really motivated to win the stage,” he added. “But with Ayuso and Soler there, it was clear they were the favorites.”

The GC riders, meanwhile, were determined not to waste matches. “Everyone, all the GC riders know that tomorrow’s the day they want to conserve energy,” Martin noted. So while the peloton let the gap swell, the decisive action came on the final climb. Soler buried himself to set up Ayuso, who surged clear. Javier Romo of Movistar clawed his way back, but couldn’t stop him in the final sprint after the descent. “Romo was the only guy who could catch Ayuso on the last climb. In fact, over the final two kilometers he was equal, if not a little stronger. Ayuso felt that, which is why he gambled everything on the sprint.”

Ayuso’s kick sealed the deal, securing UAE’s fifth win of the Vuelta. Bruyneel was clear about what that represents: “Ayuso won again, two stage wins already. Pretty impressive, I have to say. And as you said, UAE now has five stage wins out of 12 stages. We can criticize all we want, but five stage wins at the Vuelta, they’re in second place, and unless they have bad luck, they’re most likely going to be on the podium.”

Still, that success led straight to tactical debate. Is UAE risking too much by pouring riders into breakaways instead of stacking support around João Almeida for the GC? Bruyneel’s view is that context matters. “The only question is how much energy they spent the day before Angliru. But honestly, Angliru is a climb where teammates don’t make that much of a difference. The last part is super steep, and Almeida is the type of rider who’s better off riding his own pace anyway. His pace will be too fast for any of his teammates.”

Martin wasn’t so sure. “As it was happening I thought it was ridiculous. Mark Soler was in the move yesterday, and again today. Almeida needs someone to position him tomorrow. You have to get to the bottom of the climb in a good position. That’s really important. But if they get second overall with seven stage wins, is that a success? Probably, yes.”

The hosts circled back to Ayuso’s ongoing saga with UAE, which has spilled into the public eye. “One thing that stood out was Ayuso’s comments on his Twitter feed. He wrote: ‘Second stage win. Thank you very much to all the fans for an unbelievable day, and thanks a lot to Marc Soler.’ Not thanking his team at all, just Soler. That’s a bit strange.”

For Bruyneel, it hinted at lingering tension within the squad, even as the results pile up. Spanish legend Pedro Delgado also weighed in during the week. “Pedro Delgado was quite critical of Ayuso’s comments. He basically said: you want to leave, you have a multi-year contract, the team allowed you to leave, so what more do you want? Be grateful they let you go to another team for your own interests, and don’t criticize them over the timing of a press release.”

That backdrop made Romo’s near-miss bittersweet. Movistar had numbers in the move and Romo was magnificent, coming over the top of the climb with Ayuso and driving hard to keep the chasers at bay. But the sprint went against him, leaving Movistar still searching for a stage victory. His trajectory, however, earned praise. Once a triathlete, Romo only began cycling in earnest in 2020, moving swiftly from the amateur ranks to the WorldTour. His performance on Stage 12 reinforced his reputation as a rider with an enormous engine, capable of challenging the best.

As for tomorrow, all roads point to the Angliru. Martin described it as “one of the most important stages of the race in terms of GC,” and broke down the brutality of the profile: “It’s the cat one… and then another cat one 5.5k at 8.8%… the final climb 13k long basically 10% average gradient… the last let’s say two-thirds of it is almost all over 12%… kilometers at basically 17% average.”

Bruyneel added historical weight. “Angliru is also the climb where we first saw Jonas do a super performance, back in 2020, when hardly anyone knew him. He did an incredible pull for Roglic, who won the Vuelta. From then on, we knew he was going to be someone with huge potential.”

That memory explains why he’s betting on the Dane again. “I’m almost certain it’s going to be GC… I’m going to go Jonas… even at minus 1767, I’m going to pick Jonas to win the stage.” Martin offered a counter. “I’m going to go… I’ve got Almeida winning tomorrow… starting to worry Jonas Vingegaard.” He also sees Tom Pidcock as a possible spoiler: “very simple reason because he’s very light… on steep climb, light man go fast.”

The stakes are straightforward. If Almeida matches Vingegaard and beats him in a sprint, UAE’s approach looks inspired: stage wins plus a podium. If he falters without key support, the strategy risks being remembered as reckless indulgence. That’s why Martin’s comment at the end of the debate rang so true: “Maybe he’s amazing tomorrow and we say, ‘Oh, that’s why they brought him. They’re geniuses. We’re fools.’”